No Liberties
by Dizzy-x3
Summary: Yeah this is Just Listen from Owen's point of view. It's just a little something I had in my head at that time so please R&R IF YOU READ IT PLEASE REVIEW OR I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN thank you
1. Chapter 1

**AN.. Something I had in my mind it just had to be done **

**R&R and C&C thank you :) **

**Disclaimer: as much as i would love to i do not own just listen or Owen Armstrong so I think I'll just have to keep wishing :( **

**Chapter One**

I never really paid attention to the robot kids in my school, all of them were exactly the same, nothing special about any of them but that all changed the day Annabel Greene sat on my wall. That's silly isn't it? The way I used to think about it as my personal wall, well until Annabel came across it then I guess it became kind of OUR wall. Anyway, that first day when she sat down she instantly got out her lunch she didn't really look very hungry but I guess she felt uncomfortable sat on a wall with the "Angriest boy in school," I mean she probably heard what I did to that kid Robbie and the rumors about that fight at the club, they were the reasons that I went away for a while I needed to learn to calm down and collect myself, a little thing called anger management. Trust me it helped. She looked so nervous as she sipped her water, like she was expecting to get randomly attacked, I noticed her glance towards one of the most popular girls in the school. I say popular I mean feared, ah that's where I had seen her from before, I looked back and vaguely remembered her hanging with the popular girl Sally, Sarah, Sophie; whatever, at the beginning of the year. Sophie smiled at her and to me it didn't look friendly, is that why Annabel had chosen to sit on my wall? Because of some sill school girl tiff. Ahh well pretty soon I would have to begin to admire her from her from afar. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back and from what I could see from her profile she was beautiful. She was thin and looked quite nervous but at any rate that didn't deduct any of her natural beauty. I could feel her enquiring eyes on me I figured it would be best not to look at her because if I did it would be extremely hard to tear my eyes away from her so I sat there as nonchalantly as I could just drumming my fingers to the beat of the music. Most people knew me as the guy with the huge obsession with music so I silently prayed that Annabel thought that too and not just that I was an angry thug. Music had been my release for so long after my parents divorce it was my escape from the constant arguing and gradually I got listening to so many weird tracks and essentially music began to take over my life. It was strange I was Owen Armstrong, I didn't care what people thought about me but here I was hoping that some girl I didn't even know would see me as a music obsessed, handsome young man instead of an aggressive, troublesome bully. I noticed Annabel turn her attention away from me so I decided it was safe to glance in her direction, she looked at that other girl who had sat on the wall I think her name was Cathy or Clarke, that was it. Clarke. Annabel looked extremely wistful and they kept eye contact before Clarke turned away and walked to the opposite end of the yard. Hmm, another little rift?

For the rest of lunchtime Annabel just sat there and stared vacantly at the floor, she didn't eat the rest of her lunch and I began to wonder why but I didn't want to interfere it wasn't any of my business. She kept glancing at her watch worriedly I began to wonder if she was expecting someone and if she was why the hell were they keeping her waiting. With five minutes to go a red jeep pulled up to the kerb and Annabel glanced up, could this be the guy she was waiting for? The guy seemed to think he was something better than everyone else there as he glanced around the yard from down his nose, then he looked at Annabel and I saw a glimmer of recognition, yet Annabel began to lose what little colour she had in her cheeks, this didn't seem good. Annabel kept her eyes on the jeep until it had left the school yard completely. I saw her turn around and throw up onto the grass behind us and instantly I knew something was not right, I didn't put her illness down to a funny tummy, I knew it had something to do with what had just happened. She turned around and caught me staring at her her eyes were full of intensity and this surprised me for the month that I had been there I must have passed this girl a thousand times never realising her true potential beauty. She was truly gorgeous I noticed her eyes were a deep blue she was so pretty she could have anyone she wanted so why was she focusing all of her attention on a guy who made her feel sick? I was flustered that she had caught me looking at her and when she turned away I hurriedly made my way to class. I turned around to look at her one last time before I entered the school building she was sat alone, her head in her hands, her whole body shaking as if she was crying.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I still don't own Just Listen -sobs-**

**AN. Please don't let the paragraph lengths put you off I'm working hard on this to make sure it's of good quaility. Thanks **

**R&R **

I'd passed Annabel in the corridors more frequently than I used to, I don't know if she noticed this I did usually take a little detour her way if I did see her from across the hallway I just needed to walk past her and see her, smell her. That Sophie who she had fallen out with kept calling her names, one of her favourites was "Whore." It was just a simple little word that seemed to have a great impact on Annabel. I sat at lunchtime wondering if Annabel would come to my wall again, I hoped it hadn't been just a one off thing I really did like her. My heart fluttered when she sat on the wall and I instantly had to restrain myself from fixing my hair, she sat down and instantly pulled out her homework, this was all that happened she did homework and I listened to music. We never spoke as much as I wanted to and she never sat next to me so I figured she must have a good reason, therefore, I never sat next to her. Every now and then I'd catch her glancing in my direction but I thought it best not to awknowledge her, I wanted her to make her own decisions about me.

I needed to find out more about this girl, this wonderful magnificent girl. I glanced at my timetable I had maths next I could afford to miss it couldnt I? I was quite good at maths and I usually just slept in that lesson anyway so I decided that I would skip maths and go to the library because I knew that was where they kept all of the unsold year books. I crept into the library the way you were apparantly supposed to. My goal of silence was unsuccessful as I turned around and walked into a desk full of books, I stood there and watched as they cascaded to the floor. The librarian was a small woman, with grey hair that she always had tied up into a neat bun she looked like your typical little old lady grandmotherly woman, but hell did she have one heck of a temper. She stuck her head around the corner and her beady little eyes narrowed with anger even though the top of her bun only reached to my shoulder at the most a wave of fear swept through me as I hastily gathered the books and put them back onto the table.

"What do you want?" She barked "Shouldn't you be in class?" She asked without giving me chance to answer the question.

"Erm, I just wanted to see the old year books if that's not too much trouble ma'am."

She pointed towards a dusty bookcase at the back of the room, the sign had long since fell off but if you looked close enough the spine on the books were identical all sporting the school emblem. I went over to the bookcase and slowly drew out one book. I glanced at the cover it was definately the one I had been looking for, I started to flick though the pages I didn't care for any face other than hers all of the others seemed identical and as I turned the pages faster through frustration they all seemed to blend into one big face until I saw hers. Her dazzling smile caught me off guard never once as she sat on my wall had I seen her smile, yet here she was smiling her pretty little head off, not a care in the world something had obviously happened to Annabel Greene to make her lose that wonderful smile. The picture was radiating self confidence which was one thing I knew she didn't possess now, call it intuition but I believed something really bad must have happened to her and suddenly I felt myself getting protective of her. Who knew just how much damage these rumors were doing to her.

I walked out of the library as the bell went signalling the end of another school day, I noticed Annabel scanning her notes with a worried expression she seemed to bypass the red jeep until the guy who drove it spoke to her. I couldn't hear what they were talking about but his face was a blank mask of serenity and I could see from where I was stood Annabel's hands were shaking. I walked over to the car trying to look as nonchalant as I could, like I was just a passer by not wanting to get involved. After the conversation she began to head back towards school but that Sophie girl blocked her path.

"What was that?" She said it loudly, loud enough for anyone in close proximity to hear, but at this same time the vehement tone made it difficult to decipher what she was saying. When Annabel didn't reply Sophie's expression got nasty obviously she wasn't used to being ignored.

"What the hell do you think you're doing,Annabel? Didn't you get enough that night? You need more or something? "Don't you ignore me, turn round, bitch" I took a step forward ready to break it up if it got out of hand. I had to keep reminding myself that it is not good to hit a girl but oh boy was I close to it. She grabbed Annabel's shoulder and Annabel turned round to face her I took another few steps forward but now Sophie spoke too quietly for me to hear her Annabel pushed her away from her and Sophie immediately attempted to compose herself. One of the teachers came to break it up thank God. I didn't know how much longer I could hold out without going over there myself. Yet again because of the sound of kids scurrying away I failed to hear what Sophie said to her but, whatever it was made Annabel's whole face soften and as she reached out to her I prayed she'd see sense, Sophie brushed her off and walked away.

I saw her take off towards the bushes near the main school building and I knew I had to be there for her. Although we had never spoken in our lives I felt as if now I owed her something, protection. I kept my distance and slowly followed her not wanting her to think that I was going to make her day anymore difficult. I saw her throw up into the bushes and my heart melted I didn't know what to do, this was not something I had to cope with, hormonally imbalanced females. However, I did go up to her I picked up her things and readied myself for her to turn around, when she did her eyes widened firstly in surprise and then in horror at the fact that someone had seen her in the state that she was in. This was about to change my relationship with her, forever.


	3. AN

Loads of people are looking at this story and reading it but only a few are reviewing it...

If Im just wasting my time then someone please tell me but I will stop writing if no one comments because I dont see the point really.

**I currently have 7 reviews I will update when I have 10 reviews thankyou :) ... **

If you have a problem pm me and I'll try and see your side but I just dont wanna waste my time tbh ...


	4. Another AN Im sorry :

This is not a ranty authors note...

Well it is but more at myself dammit..

I cannot update this without my copy of Just Listen which seems to have gone missing :/

So I promise now as soon as I find my Just Listen (Which I am deeplt missing) I will update ....

Sorry x

Please dont give up on it x


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three. **

**AN. I know some dialogue from the actual book is being repeated but that is what happens when you write a story like this it can't really be helped :). R&R x. And may I ask that when you review can you please tell me if I am going deep enough into Owen's mind... Thanks x **

She reached her hand out to me and for some reason it made me angry that she would trust a complete stranger with her safety but at the same time I was ecstatic that she trusted me enough to let me help her. When I had her up off the floor I made the mistake of letting go of her she lost her footing and stumbled.

"Whoa, hold on you better sit down." She didn't need telling twice as she was already making her way towards the ground. I eased her back two steps and she sat down, I decided she needed a tissue I knew I had some in my bag but I didn't know where. I dropped my bag to the floor with a clunk that made her jump, I began to root around until I came across a very scrunched up tissue packet it occurred to me that I should, for some reason, care about the presentation of them so I smoothed them out against my chest and offered her a tissue, she took it, a dubious look on her face. I offered her the whole pack but she only wanted the one so I put the pack beside her feet anyway, just in case she was being to polite to ask me for it.

"So, um, are you okay?" she nodded but instantly I could tell it was forced.

"Yeah, I just felt sick all of a sudden, I don't know..."

"I saw what happened," I blurted out before I could stop myself, I knew I shouldn't have but I didn't like it when people lied to me.

"Oh, yeah, that was pretty bad." her face was fast becoming flushed and I felt a wave of love wash over me.

"Could have been worse." I said trying to console the poor girl.

"You think?" She asked as if she doubted me

"Sure, you could have punched her." Dammit, I figured that was the wrong thing to say as she seemed to contemplate this thought.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." dammit Owen, I was mentally kicking myself for this as she hadn't even thought about punching her until I had brought it up; that was evident. My mind flashed back to when I hit Robbie and the trouble that had followed.

"It's good you didn't, though. Wouldn't have been worth it"

"No?" She asked me. Dammit Owen you big stupid idiot.

"No. Not even if it felt good at the time." There that should have done it I thought.

Her phone began to ring and she reached for it from inside her bag as she pulled it out she looked at the caller ID an exasperated look on her face, she answered it and could hear the voice on the other end I looked anywhere other than Annabel just so she wouldn't think I was eavesdropping on her conversation. I managed to pick up that Annabel needed a ride. Should I ask her or would that be a little to weird for her. I decided to ask her.

"So, you need a ride," I didn't look at her for the simple fact of I was scared of her reaction, scared that she might be mad at me for eavesdropping.

"Oh, no." She answered in a way that indicated that she really did need a ride. "It's just my sister being a pain." She continued.

"Story of my life." I was greatly pleased that she hadn't been mad at me but also that I had found something I could empathise about with her. "Come on." I said I instantly regretted saying it like that in case she took it as a demand. She got up and followed me and I breathed a sigh of relief, as we walked towards my car we endured many looks from many different people. I didn't let it bother me but Annabel seemed to care she kept her head down and refused to look at anyone until we reached my car. I got into the car first and then cursed my ungentlemanly ways as an excuse I reached over and pushed the pile of Cd's off the passenger seat to make sure Annabel could sit down.

When she had got in I brought out the hammer that I used to knock the seat belt into place, Annabel's face became panic stricken and I explained what it was for, did she think I was randomly going to butcher her in the middle of our school parking lot? With Annabel in my car I began to feel a little 'hot around the collar' as they say, I placed my arm on the window trying to look cool and nonchalant. The silence was deafening I had to do something about it before I collapsed under the pressure that Annabel's presence was creating, I turned the volume up on my stereo and everything began to feel okay.

"So," She said. "What is this?"

"Mayan Spiritual Chants." I answered her bracing myself for the snort of laughter that I thought was about to come next.

"What?" she said her tone was becoming louder and I knew she was struggling to hear what I was saying but somehow I didn't want to turn the music down.

"Mayan Spiritual Chants, they're passed down, like oral traditions."

"Oh, where did you get this?" I wasn't sure whether or not she was being seriously interested or just being too polite to tell me that she hated it.

"The library at the university" I replied "I checked it out of their sound-and-culture collection."

We drove on for a little more in silence, well as silent as it could be with the music. She seemed to really like it. That shocked me.

"So you must _really _like music," she asked as she looked around the car which was cluttered with may Cd's as always, dammit Owen why didn't you move them? Now she thinks you're a slob, well done.

"Don't you?" I asked

"Sure," she replied extremely offhand "I mean, everybody does, right?"

"No," I replied flatly. I could sense a wave of uncertainty ripple throughout the car. Did I just make her uncomfortable? Instantly I realised I was fighting the urge to put my arm around her and comfort her for my lack of sensitivity.

"No?"

Now that I had made her feel uncomfortable I felt obligated to explain it to her.

"Some people _think _they like music, but they have no idea what it's really all about. They're kidding themselves. Then there are people who feel strongly about music, but just aren't listening to the right stuff. They're misguided. Then there are people like me." Annabel looked at me for a while with a look of bemusement on her face it was cute, while she figured out whatever she was thinking about the car ride was once again silent.

"People like you," she repeated suddenly, her soft voice caught me off guard but it was nice to hear. "What kind of people are those?"

"The kind who live for music and are constantly seeking it out, anywhere they can. Who can't imagine a life without it. They're enlightened"

"Ah," she said. She looked as if she was truly interested in my pathetic ramblings but whether she was I didn't know so I decided to test her out and continue.

"I mean, when you really think about it, music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common."

She nodded, totally speechless and I wondered if I had just enlightened the girl myself but that was impossible it would take years to enlighten someone like Annabel.

"Plus there's the fact, that music is a total constant. That's why we have such a strong visceral connection to it, you know?"

It was clear that she had no idea what I was going on about but before I could stop myself I was carrying on.

"Because a song can take you back instantly to a moment, a place or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment. Which is pretty amazing, when you actually think about it."

"Yeah," she replied slowly "it is."

The rest of the drive continued in silence apart from the music but as we turned into the schools parking lot I knew I would have to apologise for what Annabel was about to encounter, after all many people had faced her but few had ever wanted to face her again. She was the terror to end all terrors, she was my little sister. I warned Annabel about her and her face lit up instantly, she obviously considered the prospect of having a little sister amazing. Yeah, she was so very wrong. I noticed her glancing around the yard, her eyes were searching and I instantly knew she was looking for someone who looked remotely like me. It took all my self control to stop laughing when her eyes rested on a girl who looked in pain, dressed all in black. Suddenly Mallory bounded out of school and headed towards the passenger door, she saw Annabel and shrieked.

"Oh my God. It's you." She yelled, this confused me I was certain that these two had never set eyes on each other in their lives so why was Mallory looking like she was going to faint with overwhelming admiration. I opened my mouth to ask just that but then Mallory had scurried off to the backdoor which she flung open with such force due to her excitement that I thought she was going to rip it off the hinges. She scrambled inside and exclaimed that she had no idea I was friends with Annabel Greene, _how the hell did Mallory know this girl? _

"Mallory, take it down a notch" I did think about adding please but then thought better, if Mallory knew it was a request rather than a demand she would choose to blatantly ignore it; which she did anyway. She shoved her head through the gap in between the two front chairs with such force I was sure she was going to contract whiplash.

"This is unbelievable, I mean, it's you!" She screeched, in a way that would turn a banshee green with envy.

"Hi," said Annabel clearly startled. Oh, how I kicked myself for nor dropping Annabel off first.

"Hi!, oh my God, I love your work. I really do."

"Work?" I asked seriously confused now. Mallory had never done a day's work in her entire life so why would she be in total admiration of someone else's?

"Owen. come on." Mallory sighed, really exasperated and almost embarrassed about my lack of knowledge. "She's a Lakeview model, hello? And she's done loads of local ads. And that commercial, you know the one I love, with the girl in the cheer leading uniform?"

"No," I replied. Annabel looked so humiliated and my heart went out to the poor soul but I had warned her and she had chosen not to take my warning literally. I did think about smiling but at this point I thought it would be wise to save Annabel more discomfort. Mallory picked up the phone and began rabbiting on about how she was going to phone just one friend, this one friend magically bred and turned into all of her friends no doubt. I managed to get the phone off her because somehow I highly doubted that Annabel would particularly enjoy everyone Mallory knew staring at her like she was in a zoo. She seemed to get enough people staring at her now.

Mallory began to sulk but soon perked up and began to talk about fashion, her all time favourite subject. She began to prod Annabel's cardigan and ask numerous questions about it. I could tell Annabel was clearly not in her comfortable topic, just the way she seemed to slouch and avoid Mallory's probing eyes told me that Annabel knew as much about fashion as I did. I laughed silently and subtley to myself, maybe next time she'd take my warnings seriously. She pulled the collar down to see the label and that was that.

"It is! I knew it. Oh my God, I want a Lanoler sweater so bad I have forever-"

Annabel's face seemed to be drooping and I knew I had to intervene.

"Mallory, don't be a label whore." I chided. Dammit Owen way to make yourself look caring under the circumstances. I instantly regretted saying this because I knew that Mallory would tell me to R&R which she did. Annabel looked really confused so then I needed to explain but before I could open my mouth Mallory chirped in.

""Rephrase and redirect. It's part of his anger management. If he says something inflammatory, you can tell him it hurts your feelings, and he has to say it another way."

I felt my face stiffen, I wondered if Annabel could feel the uncomfortableness dripping from me because I was sure it was emanating from every pore. I kept my face as serene as possible, well attempted to as I thanked Mallory for her little intervention. The ride continued in silence which I was grateful for until Annabel's soft voice broke it.

"So I really appreciate the ride, it would have been a long walk home otherwise."

"It's no problem, I just have to make a couple of-" My sentence was interrupted my Mallory pulling in an anticipated breath.

"Oh my God," she said. "I'm going to get to see your house?"

Ha ha, this was payback time.

"No," I said sternly, just so she'd take the hint that I wasn't joking around with her.

"But we're taking her home! I'm here!" She answered quite smugly thinking that she had pulled one over on me.

"We're dropping you off first." I replied

"Why?" she asked dropping her charade of cuteness and letting the sulky child shine through to the surface.

"Because, I have to go by the station, so Mom said to bring you to the store."

Mallory let out one of her martyr sighs, she was exceptionally good at them.

"But Owen-"

"No buts, it's already decided."

Mallory decided to attempt to change my mind with a dramatic thud to the seat as she complained about the unfairness in the world. So I told her that life wasn't fair and I was not prepared to rephrase and redirect the truth. Mallory began to probe Annabel for more information about photo shoots and began shooting her loads of questions. Then she did the one thing no one should ever do, she questioned my taste in music. As I had already discussed with Annabel, I had impeccable taste in music. Then just to be more annoying than she already was being she told Annabel all about my radio station a little local thing that I signed up for originally just to keep me busy, but I instantly fell in love with it. She made me sound like some boring nerd with no social life, that was not how I wanted Annabel, Annabel, Annabel Greene to see me. When I finally made it to my Mom's store Mallory again made her distaste clear as she "slagged off" all of my Mom's vegan produce. As we pulled away I felt the urge to apologise.

"Again, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. She's cute." She said uncertainly. I could think of many words for her but cute was not one of them.

Annabel started asking me about my show and we had a very short difficult conversation about it. I didn't really know how much I should tell her in case she thought me weird or something.

"So," I began changing the subject. "Where do you live?"

"The Arbours. It's a few miles past the mall; you can just-"

"I know it," I cut her off. "The station is just a couple of blocks from there. I have to stop there for a second if that's okay."

"Sure" she replied. "That's fine."

I came out of the booth to find Rolly stood with Annabel in his padded helmet. She looked kind of alarmed, the amount of times he forgot to take that stupid thing off his head. He made me chuckle that lad did. I decided to save him from any more embarrassment and told him that his helmet was still on his head. The poor sod. Now Rolly had seated himself in my car the topic of conversation had shifted to him, I was thankful for this and therefore engrossed myself in the conversation about his job and his love for a girl who nearly knocked him out.

"Left or right?" I asked her as the car approached a stop sign.

"Straight for a while." She replied.

Now I come to think of it, I couldn't really pick at Rolly and his love for a girl he hardly knew when my own love for a girl I hardly knew was blossuming out of control. Unfortunately, I opened my big mouth about the time that me and a police officer had a little misunderstanding after I fought some guy in the parking lot. Dammit Owen she's gunna think your a bloody psycho. We drove in silence for a while until...

"It's not true."

"What isn't?" I asked her slightly confused.

"What you heard about me." she replied.

"I haven't heard anything about you."

"Yeah right." She replied. I hated that tone in her voice, it didn't sound right. It was a bit like mixing chocolate with mustard. The sweet didn't go with the bitter.

"I haven't," I said. "I'd tell you if I had."

"Really."

"Yeah, I don't lie."

"You don't lie."

"That's what I said."

"Ever?"

"Nope."

"Well," she replied "that's a good policy if you can stick to it."

"I don't have a choice, holding stuff in doesn't really work for me. Learned that the hard way."

She mulled it over for a few seconds before answering carefully.

"So you're always honest," it was a statement more than a question and as she said it her voice was tinted with disbelief.

"Aren't you?" I asked her, this was something I needed to know. I didn't see the point in liars.

"No, I'm not." she said it matter of factly as if I should have already known this about her. For some reason it didn't seem to bother me that she had just told me she wasn't always honest. This surprised me because I have always had the same view about untruthful people.

"Well," I replied, not quite sure what to say. "That's good to know, I guess."

"I'm not saying I'm a liar." she stated. I tried as much as was possible to hide my reaction to this but I felt my eyebrow raise and cursed myself silently under my breath as I looked at the hurt begin to spread across Annabel's perfect features. "That's not how I meant it anyway." She added half hearted.

"How'd you mean it then?" I asked desperate to at least attempt to build a bridge over that insignificant moment.

"It's just... I don't always say what I feel"

"Why not?" I asked struggling to understand this.

"Because the truth sometimes hurts." As she said this I got a look into her eyes and there was something there, I couldn't be sure what but I didn't like it. Something was scaring her.

"Yeah, so do lies though." I replied, somehow I wasn't sure that I was grasping the concept pf her theory to greatly.

"I don't... I just don't like to hurt people. Or upset them. So sometimes, you know, I won't say exactly what I think, to spare them that."

"But that's still I lie," I confirmed. "Even if you mean well."

"You know, I find it really hard to belive that you're always honest." She replied as if she was trying to score a point on me.

"Believe it. It's true." I answered her honestly.

"So if I were to ask you if I looked fat in this outfit, and you thought that I did, you'd say so." she said somewhat sceptically.

"Yes," I answered amused at the look of surprise on her face. She wasn't going to win this.

"You would not." She answered defiantly.

"I would. I might not say it that way, exactly, but if I thought you didn't look good-"

"No way." She answered flatly it was clear she thought I was lying where I sat. I couldn't believe someone so beautiful could be so stubborn.

"-and you'd asked." I added just so she wouldn't think I was insolent and just insulting within my nature. "I'd tell you. I wouldn't just offer it up though. I'm not a hateful person. But if you asked for my opinion, I'd give it." She shook her head at me, a disbelieving smile playing at the edges of her heart shaped mouth. I noticed her lips were a pale pink and her teeth were practically perfect, was there anything about this girl that was flawed? Apart from her trust.

"Look, like I said, for me, not saying how I feel when I feel it is a bad move. So I don't do it. Look at it this way: I might be saying you're fat, but at least I'm not punching you in the face."

"Are those the only options?" She asked looking slightly scared and I knew her thoughts were flashing back to Ronnie Waterman.

"Not always, just sometimes. And it's good to know your options, right?"

She turned her head away from me and I could have sworn that her snow white features turned pink but it might have just been a trick of the light. She suddenly fixated her gaze to the street ahead a look of confusion etched on her face this was soon replaced by worry and concern.

"Still straight?" I asked pretending I hadn't noticed, I didn't want to look nosy.

"Um, no" she answered obviously distracted by whatever she had seen.

"Then... what? Right? Left?" I couldn't pretend I hadn't noticed any longer it pained me to see her pretty features contorted into this mask of concern. "What's wrong?"

"That's my sister." She said nodding towards a car parked further ahead. The poor girl looked upset, she had her head in her hands. She reminded me of Annabel, that first day she sat on my wall.

"Is... is she okay?"

"No, she's not." The statement was so unemotional and detached I wasn't quite sure how to tackle it.

"Oh," was all I could think of then the obvious. "Well, do you want to-"

"No, take a right." I couldn't help glancing at the girl in the car. She was sobbing and I wondered why Annabel didn't want to go and comfort her. I knew my stare was making Annabel uncomfortable but I couldn't help it. I just couldn't understand why this amazing girl would just pass up the opportunity to care about someone who was obviously very close to her.

"She's sick. She has been for a while now." She stated like she had something to explain for.

"I'm sorry." This was the most cliche thing to say but what else was there? "Which is yours?" I asked her attempting to change the subject, I didn't want to see this perfect angel upset it just wouldn't be right.

"The glass one." She answered

"The glass- Oh right." The house was amazing in the kitchen I could see a middle aged woman standing looking worried she looked eager as she saw my car approach but then her smile quickly faded and I knew she had hoped that Annabel was that other girl we saw sobbing her heart out a few streets back. My heart went out to this woman.

"Man, that's really something." Was all I could muster. Way to look intelligent Owen you big lummux.

"People in glass houses." Annabel replied. I glanced back toward the house, the woman was still staring intently at the car as if the crying girl was going to materialise in the back seat or something. I felt a pang of sadness as I realised that something was truly wrong.

"Well, thanks for the ride. For everything." Annabel broke the silence.

"No problem." I replied.

The girl pulled into the driveway and Annabel waved but the girl ignored her this confused me my family was quite close even if we did own a Mallory. She turned back to me.

"So when is it? Your radio show."

"Sundays, at seven."

"I'll listen." She answered

"In the morning." I added waiting for her reaction.

"Seven in the morning. Really?" This amused me greatly.

"Yeah, it's not the ideal time slot, but you take what you can get. Insomniacs are listening, at least."

"Enlightened insomniacs." She corrected me and I was glad she was taking something useful away with her from this car ride.

"Yeah exactly."

"Well," she said. "I guess I should go."

"Okay. I'll see you around." I felt the urge to give her a hug but I didn't know what her invisible boundary lines this may cross. I watched her safely enter her house then began to drive away. Okay so maybe she was actually flawed somewhere, not in her features but within her emotions. She lied sometimes, her family life didn't seem too good and her confidence didn't always seem to be there. I arrived home and attempted to have a conversation with my Mom when she arrived home but I had to go up to my room. I fell asleep as thoughts of beautiful girls in Lanoler sweaters twirled gracefully around in my head. Something was different about Annabel Greene.


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**AN. Credit for this idea goes to happilyeverafter18. Thanks Hun :) I really liked this idea.., R&R**

**I am writing this without just listen so if there are any mistakes I apologise. **

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter it is solely about Owen and his picture nothing else. **

I told myself I wouldn't do it, it was wrong. Did I really want to look like some weird freaky stalker? I didn't I knew I didn't and truly I didn't see the point in pining after someone who probably didn't feel the same way. So why did I find myself in Mallory's room at daft o'clock in the morning treading carefully between the discarded clothes and teen mags she idolised? I couldn't sleep would be the obvious answer but Annabel Greene was the reason that I couldn't sleep. I couldn't get that wonderful girl out of my head I remembered her smell, her sweet smell of strawberries; was it her shampoo or a new perfume? So that was part of the reason I was stood in my little sister's cluttered room another part was Mallory's model collection. Photographs of models covered practically every inch of Mallory's walls and I wondered if she had any pictures of Annabel, I mean her reaction to her yesterday obviously proved something didn't it? Unless I was just your average typical guy and I thought it meant something and it really didn't.

I pressed my face to Mallory's wall I mean if I wanted to find Annabel I'd really need to look closely. There were blondes, brunettes and redheads galore but none of them made my heart rate increase dramatically. They were all average people dressed in nothing but skin tight self confidence. Obviously Mallory thought they looked 'fashionable' but i think we both knew that Mom wouldn't let her dress like that, at least not in this life time. Then I saw her it was strange seeing a picture of her instead of the real thing. She was extremely photogenic but hey, she was a model after all, I'd tell her one day that she was on Mallory's wall she should be honoured but then looking around at the other pictures Mallory didn't really have much taste Annabel was by far the best looking girl on these walls; then again I was biased.

Then I saw her and she caught my breath even in photograph form, she was beautiful. It was a calender shoot which I figured out from the big block red AUGUST written at the top. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back and loose curls, she'd cut it since this photo shoot. Her piercing blue eyes stared straight into the camera, a kind of glint to them; it was cleared that here she was enjoying herself. She was wearing a black t-shirt with the venues logo on for advertisement purposes I assumed. She sported tiny denim shorts which showed off her long tanned legs, it surprised me to see Annabel in anything like that but considering she was AUGUST it made sense not to be fully clothed. She was barefooted with her toes painted multi coloured she was a spontaneous girl back then - what happened? Her legs were crossed just one draping over the other it was a way that no one really would ever casually stand but on her it looked great. The most amusing thing about this picture was she was surrounded by tires, she had one hand on her hip and the other hung loosely over a massive tire that looked like it had been recently removed from a tractor.

This photo was brimming with confidence there was nothing self confident about it, when I looked at it I saw a bubbly, confident and ambitious girl. When I looked at the real Annabel I saw beauty but also pain. There was something else there but I just couldn't be sure what. Something had happened and whatever it was it was hurting her and I wanted to know, I wanted to make the pain disappear but I didn't know what had happened so I didn't know how to approach the situation. Annabel would tell me in time, when she was ready to trust me irrevocably.

I took the picture, I couldn't leave it on Mallory's wall not when I knew that I would be thinking about it all night, I quietly closed the door behind me as I left. When I got back to my room I was able to inspect the picture closely, her pink lips frosted with some glossy stuff were posed in the perfect 'o' shape as if the photographer had randomly caught her by surprise leaning against a tractor tire. Also, apart from her beauty which was prominent I was able to see a few flaws in her features, like she had a tiny spot just below her eye which had been doused in concealer but it wasn't hid completely. Also, a scratch on her arm began to come into focus. That night I fell asleep and dreamed of beautiful girls against tire tractors. This was beginning to become and unhealthy obsession.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five**

**AN. Well my avid readers.. **

**I am aware it has been a long time but you shall be pleased to know I have found just listen :) **

**I know it's been a while but please stick with it :) **

I knew it wasn't healthy but for the entire weekend I kept drifting to Annabel, he face swirled around in my head and I wondered if she had bothered to listen to my show. I wondered what seeing her in school would be like, if she would pay any attention to me or if she would studiously ignore me. I found myself sat on the wall next to Annabel, her head was slightly bent and I could tell that she was contemplating talking to me.

"So, did you listen?" She put her sandwich down which I hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"To you're show?" she asked which kind of gave me the impression that she had forgotten all about it.

"Yeah" I answered bracing myself for whatever lame excuse was about to tumble out of her mouth.

She nodded. " I did, actually."

"And?" I asked trying to mask my joy.

"Well, it was... interesting."

"Interesting." I repeated. Was that the best she could come up with?

"Yeah," she said, obviously feeling quite awkward. "I'd, um, never heard those songs before."

I sat and contemplated the outcomes either she had watched it and she was lying about liking the music or she hadn't watched it and was attempting to lie her way out of it. Both of these outcomes included lying, and I didn't like it. I stood up quickly closing the agreed distance in a matter of seconds.

"Okay, did you really listen?"

"Yeah, I did." She answered.

"I don't know if you remember, but you did tell me that you lie." I reminded her, a look of indignation shot across her face and I immediately regretted it.

"I didn't say that. I said I often hold back the truth. I'm not doing that this time, though. I listened to the whole show."

I felt my own face contort into one of disbelief.

"Jennifer by Lipo. Descartes Dream by Misanthorpe. Some song with a lot of beeping-"

"You did listen." I admitted. "Okay then. Now, tell me what you really thought."

"I told you it was interesting."

"Interesting," I said. Is not a word."

"Since when?" She asked clearly confused by my proclamation

"It's a placeholder. Something you use when you don't want to say something else." I leaned forward. I was just the right distance away to kiss her but I couldn't let myself be sidetracked by the perfect curve of her lips. I had to stay on track I mean this was music. "Look, if you're worried about my feelings, don't be. You can say whatever you want. I won't be offended."

"I did. I liked it." Her lying was growing tiresome.

"Tell the truth. Say something. Anything. Just spit it out."

"I-" she stuttered obviously aware that I knew she was not exactly lying, but dodging the truth. "I... I didn't like it.

I slapped my leg; extremely uncomposed but I didn't care. "I knew it! You know, for someone who lies a lot you're not very good at it."

"I'm not a liar." She repeated simply.

"Right, you're nice." I said adding emphasis to the last word.

"What's wrong with nice?"

"Nothing. Except it usually involves not telling the truth. Now tell me what you really thought."

"I liked the show format." She said obviously treading carefully where my feelings were concerned. "But the songs were kind of..."

"Kind of what?" I probed. "Give me some adjectives other than interesting."

"Noisy," she said. "Bizarre."

"Okay," I nodded taking in her criticism. "What else?"

"Well, the first song was... painful to listen to. And the second, the Misanthorpe one..."

"Descartes Dream." I interrupted her, unable to help myself.

"It put me to sleep. Literally."

"That happens. Go on."

"The harp music sounded like something you'd hear at a funeral."

"Ah," I replied. "Okay, good."

"And I hated the techno"

"All of it?"

"Yes."

I nodded, grateful that I had finally pulled the truth out of her. "Well. Okay then. That's good feedback. Thank you."

"So... you're okay with that?" She asked obviously surprised I hadn't contradicted her opinions about anything.

"That you didn't like the show?"

"Yeah."

"Sure. I mean, it would have been cool if you had. But most people don't, so it's not exactly surprising."

"And that doesn't bother you?" She asked

"Not really, I mean, at first, it was kind of disappointing. But people recover from disappointment. Otherwise we'd all be hanging from nooses. Right?"

"What?"

"Hey, what about the sea shanty." I asked attempting to make up for the somewhat depressing analogy. She just stared at me blankly. "The men chanting about sailing the open sea. What was your take on that one?"

"Weird." She answered. "Very weird."

"Weird," I repeated slowly. This was not the word I would have used. "Huh, okay."

Voices began to mill around us and Annabel's head suddenly whipped round to where Sophie was passing with another girl. I glanced in her direction a little worried hoping against hope she wasn't about to come and start anything with Annabel after the little confrontation on Friday. I decided to ignore the childish little whispers and nudges between the two girls and began to engage Annabel in conversation to take her mind off of her.

"So you didn't like any of the techno? Like, not even one aspect?"

She shook her head guiltily. "No, sorry."

"Don't be sorry, it's your opinion. There's no right and wrong in music, you know? Just everything in between."

Right on cue the bell rang Annabel chucked the rest of her sandwich away while I jumped down from the wall assembling my ipod into its usual position.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around." She said

"Yeah, see you later."

I walked away from her and started for my next class.

Annabel was already sat on the wall when I got down there. She opened her lunch and I saw a little white note come tumbling out of it. I wondered what it could be about. Had she had some kind of argument with her mother or something? Or was it a little reminder to eat everything like a good girl?

"Bad news?"

She jumped and I felt bad for sneaking up on her.

"What?" She asked utterly confused.

"You looked stressed," I noted glancing at the paper in her hand. "Something wrong?"

"No," she answered almost automatically. "Everything's fine."

I sat on the wall, making sure not to sit right next to her. Something told me she needed her own space today. I pulled my ipod out of my pocket and lent backwards feeling the dampness of the grass spread over my palms.

"It's just this thing with my Mom." She suddenly blurted.

I turned to look at her, trying not to look too agitated with her. "Thing," I repeated trying to keep my tone as unpatronising as possible. "Just so you know, is a serious placeholder."

"It has to do with my modelling."

"Modelling?" I asked before remembering. "Oh, right. Like Mallory was talking about. You were in a commercial or something?"

"I've been doing it since I was a kid. Both my sisters did it too. But, lately, I've been wanting to quit."

She looked shocked and I doubted that she'd told anyone else this but me.

"And anyway," she continued. "It's complicated, because my Mom's really into it and, if I quit, then she'll be upset."

"But you don't want to do it any more," I reminded her. "Right?"

"Yeah."

"So you should tell her that."

"You say that like it's easy." She said, pouting slightly. I fought back the urge to smile.

"Isn't it?"

"No."

A group of giggling freshman came tumbling out of the doors to our left. Annabel seemed to take this as a distraction but not me, now I was curious. "Why not?" I asked

"Because I don't do confrontations."

I glanced over to Sophie and Emily remembering what had happened on Friday, the slid my disbelieving eyes back to Annabel.

"Well," she continued. "I don't do confrontations well."

"What happened between you tow anyway?" I asked, wondering what could have made Sophie hate Annabel as much as she did.

"Me and Sophie?" She asked. Obviously she knew who I was talking about she was just stalling. I nodded and she took it as an indication to continue. "It was just... we had a falling out over the summer."

I waited patiently for her to continue, I knew that wasn't all the story she was keeping something from me. "She thinks I slept with her boyfriend."

"Did you?" I asked although it would make no odds to me if she had, I'd just rather know the truth.

She blushed and then answered. "No I didn't."

"Maybe you should tell her that." I said struggling to find a problem in the childish misunderstanding.

"It's not that simple."

"Huh, call me crazy but I'm sensing a theme here."

"So if you were me, you would-"

"-just be honest." I finished for her, it was simple really after all it was her life and if she carried on like this it wouldn't be much of one. "On both counts."

"You say that like it's easy too." She said quite forlorn.

"It's not. But you can do it. It just takes practice." I assured her.

"Practice?"

"In Anger Management, we had to do all this role playing stuff. You know, to get used to handling things in a none volatile way."

"You role played," she said, a wry smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I had to. It was court ordered." I told her, just so she knew that I wouldn't have gone in for it by choice. "But I have to say, it was kind of helpful. You know, so that when and if something similar did happen, you had some kind of road map for dealing with it."

"Oh," she said, still rather shocked. "Well, I guess that makes sense."

"All right, then." I slid a little closer to her. "So say I'm your Mom."

"What?" she said, confused.

"I'm your Mom." I repeated. "Now tell me you want to quit modelling."

She blushed. "I can't do that," she said.

"Why not? Is it so hard to believe? You think I'm not a good role player?"

"No, it's just-"

"Because I am," I interrupted. "Everyone wanted me to be their mother in the group."

She just stared at me shell shocked as if I'd asked her to cut her own finger off.

"I just... It's weird."

"No, it's hard. But not impossible. Just try it."

"Okay, so-"

"Mom." I said.

"What?"

"The more accurate the exercise, the more effective it is. Go all out or don't go at all."

"Okay, Mom."

"Yes?"

"The thing is, I know that the modelling thing is really important to-"

I had to stop her, I couldn't listen any more. I held up my hand. "R and R. Rephrase and Redirect that."

"Why?"

"Thing. Like I said, major placeholder, super vague. In confrontations, you have to be as specific as possible, to avoid misunderstandings." I leaned a little closer to her in the hope I'd get my point across. "Look, I know it's weird. But it works, I promise."

"I know my modelling is very important to you, and that you really enjoy it-" She glanced at me and I nodded in encouragement. "But to be honest it's just that lately, I've been thinking about it a lot, and I feel like.."

"I can't do it." she said and she looked away.

"You so had it though!" I said slapping the wall in frustration. "You were right there."

"I'm sorry," she said picking up he sandwich. " I just... I can't."

"All right, no big deal."

The silence was overwhelming, I just couldn't take it. So I decided to break it.

"Look, I'm just going to say this: it's got to suck, you know? Keeping something like that in. Walking around everyday having so much you want to say, but not doing it. It's gotta make you really mad. Right?"

"I should go." She said shoving her sandwich into her bag and instantly I knew I had offended her and I cursed myself for it. "I... I have to talk to my English teacher about this project I'm supposed to be doing."

"Oh," I said, disappointed. I studied her face but she didn't look at me. "Sure."

"I'll, um, see you later."

"Right." I picked up my ipod. "See you around."

She walked away and I didn't even bother to call her back. I didn't bother to try and make amends because I knew she needed some time to think. I felt her eyes on me but didn't look up.

It was the end of school and I was walking home. When I heard a car horn beep at me. I wasn't doing anything wrong so it confused me. I turned round to see who it was promising myself I wouldn't lose my temper even if they had caught me on a bad day. It was Annabel. I stopped and waited for her to come up to me.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"What happened to your car?" She asked me

"Transportation issues."

"Story of my life," she pushed the door open. "Get in."


End file.
